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Michigan Department of Education names new head of School Reform Office

Dedrick Martin, superintendent in St. Johns Public Schools, was named to the job Tuesday.

He'll replace Natasha Baker, the former reform officer who often courted controversy for her push to close persistently failing schools and for her efforts to appoint CEOs to take over the academics in some struggling schools.

Baker left in September to take a position as deputy superintendent for the Hazelwood School District in Missouri.

Martin takes over the office during a period of transition. The office originated under a legislative direction in 2010 and placed in the Michigan Department of Education. In 2015, Gov. Rick Snyder moved it to a different state department, saying he wanted a more proactive approach to helping struggling schools. Earlier this year, though, he reversed that order, moving the office back to MDE. That transition became complete in late August.

Martin has been superintendent in St. Johns, just north of Lansing, since 2013. Prior to that, he was superintendent for Ypsilanti Public Schools, leading the district through the consolidation of the Ypsilanti and Willow Run school districts.

"Dedrick is a remarkable and experienced leader who will help lead the efforts to assist our partnership districts," State Superintendent Brian Whiston said in a news release.

Michigan has 16 partnership districts, so-called because they have schools that are among the poorest-performing in the state. The MDE works with those partnership districts to negotiate agreements that will guide the improvement of those schools.

The announcement of his appointment came a day after the MDE identified dozens more schools for improvement.

While in St. Johns, Martin helped improve the district's financial status by increasing the amount of money it has in reserves, while academic achievement improved, according to the release.